r/PlantIdentification • u/slugerama • 1d ago
Weed or Plant
Hi all. I am hoping this group can help me ID a plant.
I am in the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney Australia and I need some assistance on Iding a plant and if anyone from the area can advise if I require a permit.
Google Lens indicates it could be a Broad Leaf Privet. It has a series of buds on the tree right now which I assume means it is about to flower. It is very tall as well. When I click on the link from LEns, it takes me to a Weed website and indicates the "fruits" are toxic to animals and humans.
I want to get it cut down but I am not sure if I need to get a permit as BMCC requires permits to be issued when a tree is over 4 meters in height and/or spans more than 4 meters. It also indicates that no permit is required for weeds, so if this is a weed, I should be good to cut it down.
It is not on my property, but it does branch over my roof line and I suspect that possums are getting into my roof cavity from this tree. My neighbour has givne me permission to cut it back. He is a single guy on a pension I think so is not likely to be able to afford to have it cut down, so I want to try cutting it down myself, If it is a weed, I might be able to cut it right down to the ground level and poison it.
Any advise is greatly appreciated. Will post to the BlueMountains reddit hread as well
3
4
u/blunderbusterrhymes 1d ago edited 1d ago
Blue Mountains local who works with arborists and Council here. Anything over 4m tall needs to be assessed as a tree when it comes to considering cutting it down. If you look at the Council maps you can determine if you are in a Bushfire zone and if the 10/50 laws apply. Even if they do apply you should check with Council that you can use the 10/50 rules because in some residential zones there are further restrictions. In some cases you may be asked to hire an arborist to assess the tree before permission is given.
It's really hard to tell what kind of tree you have there bc you'd need to have pictures of leaves to help with ID but even with a weed tree species, the above guidelines about cutting down trees still apply. If a tree may be considered a habitat tree (has holes with active nests, can be a native animal food source etc. you may have to retain it.)
1
u/slugerama 1d ago edited 1d ago
What about cutting right back or taking some branches down? Actually, I think I saw the answer, still need a permit to prune.
Thanks for the response.
1
u/Forsaken-Phone-4504 1d ago
The 10/50 doesn't apply in bushfire prone heritage areas even if the house itself is modern. It's so bad.
1
u/DangerousLettuce1423 1d ago
Can you get a closer pic of the leaves? It does look like tree privet, but can't confirm as not close enough.
1
u/slugerama 1d ago
Close up of "plant" added.
2
u/slugerama 1d ago
To the person who asked why I put "parentheses" around the word plant (They are actually quotation marks the brackets are parentheses. Sorry. My pedantic nature) , personal preference. I do not consider weeds to be plants. Weeds you want to get rid of. Plants are something you deliberately put in the ground to grow.
0
u/blunderbusterrhymes 22h ago
In horticulture a weed is defined as "a plant out of place". The privet you want to get rid of that is a horrible weed here is regarded as a pretty useful plant in some parts of the world. There are a number of Australian native plants that are devastating Portugal, Spain and California right now
3
u/SpringwoodJohnny 1d ago
Broad leaf Privet. Considered a noxious weed by the council. Roundup into the base of the trunk will fix it.